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DMSO alternative
Any solubilizers that compare with DMSO? I have a very hygroscopic plant freeze dried powder that is very difficult to solubilize outside of DMSO.
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23 Replies
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Depends.You’re not very precise. Plant powder like simply powdered plant or a dried extract? What plant, which part of the plant? How comes that the whole powder dissolves? Cellulose usually doesn’t dissolve in DMSO…. -
Freeze dried fruit pulp powder that is very hygroscopic and will cake without the moisture absorbing packets.
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Did you considered some ionic liquids? Ionic liquids may used together with DMSO or even provide a better alternative to DMSO and are known dissolve cellulosic material. My guess is that fruit dried pulp powder may be rich in cellulosic material.
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Do you have some favorite ionic liquids that you recommend?
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N,N-dimethylethanolammonium formate, 2-hydroxyethylammonium formate or 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate.
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Do all 3 perform the same? Thanks will try.
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What concentration of the ionic ingredient is optimum for use to dissolve the cellulosic fruit powder?
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I would suggest you try all three and pick the one that gives the best solubility and compatibility with your other materials. If you were to pick one, I would suggest N,N-dimethylethanolammonium formate first.
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Is there a concentration of the ionic ingredient that is best to try?
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Start on the low end and if solubility is good, you can get up to 30g of powder in 100g ionic liquid. Raising the temperature of the mixture to about 100C may boost solubility too.
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What is used to dilute the ionic liquid?
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Not sure if you have to dilute it. But if you decide to dilute, ionic liquids are soluble in alcohols, water, or organic solvents. Since you want to use DMSO, for your process, there are some journal articles that suggest that cellulose solubility is better in a 1:1 mixture of ionic liquid and aprotic solvents such as DMSO. Hence you can try 1 DMSO : 1 ionic liquid. Go for it @ Leo. Let’s see what you get.
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I have two of the three ionic liquids listed above in my lab. Let me know if I can send you small samples to try.
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The problem arises as soon as you dump your IL/fruit pulp stock solution into your final product… make sure you use enough speed to disperse it good enough or stuff might cause nasty precipitates.BTW I’m not sure if any ILs are approved for cosmetics. Personally, I’d go with DMEA lactate but you’d have to try yourself what works best for your fruit powder. Not all ILs are the same when it comes to dissolving different stuff.
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@biofirm thanks but I ordered your first IL. @pharma what is your experience using the DMEA lactate?
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Good luck and have fun with the tests.
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@Leo I haven’t used DMEA lactate
.I’d simply prefer lactate over formate or acetate (more pros and less cons). -
I will try with one of these agents to see if it works. If it does not work, I do not think trying the others will be fruitful…just a pun with the use of fruitful.
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I don’t get the pun with ‘fruitful’, my brain is like a dried prune after today… but maybe DMEA malate would work given that malic acid a fruit acid :smiley: .
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@Pharma thanks for the input on the malate. I will keep you posted once I try the formate to see if it solubilizes the fruit powder. If not successful, none of these other ionic liquids will probably work.
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Ionic liquids much like the related deep eutectic solvents are fairly different one from the other, likely more so than standard solvents. When it comes to solubilising things like cellulose (deep eutectic solvents are piss poor in this regard but outstanding regarding lignin, the other main ‘insoluble’ in plant matter), there are tremendous differences between the different types of those ‘alternative’ solvents even if just one of the two partners is different.If you read through scientific literature, you’ll probably find many recent papers but mind, most use heat (maybe 50 to over 150°C) and/or pressure (sometimes several bar) for dissolution. Meaning, if you find a promising candidate it may still fail at ambient temperature or require a 10 to 100 times excess solvent and may still be labelled ‘efficient’ solvent for X or Y.
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@Pharma In short, are you saying that I should try the other ILs if the formate fails? I do not want to use heat since it will inactivate the plant proteins of interest. With regards to pressure, what methods do you recommend?
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Nope, not recommending heating because heat soluble stuff will fall out once cooled. Same with pressure but more difficult and dangerous to do.I’m just saying that there is a chance that if one solvent fails, another might work but you’re not going to know which one until you tried or got tired of trying.
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